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Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

Pistons again find fault with officiating From wire reports
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The Detroit Pistons are renowned for their resilience. If the defending champions don't rally from a 2-0 deficit against San Antonio in the NBA Finals, however, they might be as well known for their whining.
The Pistons complained incessantly about the officiating during the Spurs' 97-76 victory Sunday night in Game 2, just as they have at times during the regular season and playoffs.

When coach Larry Brown was asked if he was concerned with his team's lack of composure, he offered up what he called a simple statistic.

"We're 1-7 with one referee and 11-1 with the rest," Brown said Monday.

Brown declined to elaborate, but postseason box scores show Detroit is 1-7 when either Ron Garretson or Dan Crawford has officiated its games and 11-1 when neither has been on the court.

Of course, the Spurs have had a lot to do with the Pistons' problems, too.

"If people don't give us credit, we just don't care," said Manu Ginobili, who has scored 53 points in the series.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich expects to face a much different team the rest of the series.

"They're going to be ferocious," he said. "They're going to be very physical and aggressive."

The Spurs are two wins away from their second title in three years — and third in seven — but know it still won't be easy to stop the Pistons' quest to repeat.

Detroit will host Game 3 on Tuesday and Game 4 on Thursday and if necessary, Game 5.

"We can definitely win all three, but we still have to come back here," Prince said in San Antonio.

With a collection of talented castoffs, the Pistons have consistently proven they're at their best in adverse situations.

They trailed Miami 3-2 in the conference finals before advancing and were behind Indiana 2-1 in the previous round. They rallied from a 3-2 deficit to New Jersey last season and a 3-1 hole against Orlando two years ago, with four current starters playing prominent roles.

"I'm confident we'll respond, not because we always do it, but we have to," Detroit's Lindsey Hunter said. "There's no choice now.

"We're not demoralized. They did what they were supposed to do. They won two games. Now, we have to see what we can do back at home."

If the Pistons pull off a stunning comeback and win their fourth title, they will join the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers and 1969 Boston Celtics as the only teams to overcome an 0-2 deficit in the NBA Finals.

"It's another challenge for us to be great," Hunter said.

If the Pistons lose the next two games, they will be just the third defending champion to get swept in the finals, joining the 1989 Los Angeles Lakers and the 1983 Lakers, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"It's not about coming back, it's about finding ways to win games, or we're going to spend a long summer trying to figure out what could've been, or should've happened," Wallace said.

Though the Spurs seem unstoppable, they crumbled last year and made things more difficult for themselves earlier in these playoffs in the same situation they're in now.

San Antonio lost four straight to the Lakers in the conference finals last season after leading 2-0 and were pushed to six games by Seattle this year after winning the first two games of their second-round series.

The Spurs can feel good about their chances of dealing with prosperity against Detroit because since trailing 17-4 in Game 1, they've outscored the Pistons by 49 points.

Skip Bayless:

"Derek Fisher will prove to be a much better NBA head coach than Steve Kerr."

"The Houston Texans will forever regret it if they do not take Johnny Manziel with the No. 1 overall pick. He will haunt them."

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

Not to **** off any Pistons fans, but, how will their team do in the offseason after they lose to San Antonio in the Finals? I'm hoping they realize that they are way to top heavy while not sportin' one true center of starting quality. Sure, keep the team the way it is, they'll just have to deal with losing to the Spurs every year. (And probably the Pacers too )

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

I actually agree with Brown, while it is not the reason they lost. They shot like **** and Spurs are a great team. But one must ask when stats like this present themselves.

The NBA was forced to have a meeting with a Salvatore and Brown becuase the offciaiting was so bad when those two were on the floor. I believe the Pistons record was something like 0-8 last regular season.

The more the players and coaches complain the more it cheapens the game and calls into the question the officials.

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

Not to **** off any Pistons fans, but, how will their team do in the offseason after they lose to San Antonio in the Finals? I'm hoping they realize that they are way to top heavy while not sportin' one true center of starting quality. Sure, keep the team the way it is, they'll just have to deal with losing to the Spurs every year. (And probably the Pacers too )

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

And they all want to keep their special 5 together for as long as possible. But how long will Antonio McDyess keep coming off the bench before he realizes that he could be playing more minutes and more points on another team without winning a championship, just as he has with the Detroit Pistons? How long until they realize that they need more offense and in order to get offense, someone will have to go? And how long until they realize that Darko needs minutes?

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

Did I read this right... Larry Brown is complaining about DAN Crawford?

Let's do a quick, unofficial poll among those of us geeky enough to know alot about the officials.

Does anybody have Dan Crawford any lower than their "top-three" for officials?

And Ronnie Garretson isn't great, but he isn't awful either (well, by NBA officials standards, I mean ) - he's just middle-of-the-pack.

Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
And life itself, rushing over me
Life itself, the wind in black elms,
Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

For the record, I'm not saying that LB may not have some legitimate complaints. I just think it's ridiculous that he and his team are giving the Spurs ZERO credit for the two lossess. They weren't even freaking CLOSE. Besides, it's not like the Pistons have not been able to beat up on their fair share of teams with rough, physical play and constant over-the-back boarding that goes unwhistled. Looks to me like they're just getting frustrated now that that has been taken away.

As for Brown, it's amazing how much of a hypocrite he has become on his last two stops, at Detroit and Philly. I know a coach has got to stand up for his team, but making excuses for them and whining all the time is going too far. I look forward to his retirement. I just wish Phil Jackson would stay away as well. Guess it's about time to start hatin' on the Lakers again...

Skip Bayless:

"Derek Fisher will prove to be a much better NBA head coach than Steve Kerr."

"The Houston Texans will forever regret it if they do not take Johnny Manziel with the No. 1 overall pick. He will haunt them."

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

Not to **** off any Pistons fans, but, how will their team do in the offseason after they lose to San Antonio in the Finals? I'm hoping they realize that they are way to top heavy while not sportin' one true center of starting quality. Sure, keep the team the way it is, they'll just have to deal with losing to the Spurs every year. (And probably the Pacers too )

Since when did Ben Wallace not become a "starting quality" center? I know Pacer fans despise the guy, but come on.

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

Since when did Ben Wallace not become a "starting quality" center? I know Pacer fans despise the guy, but come on.

My issues with Ben Wallace playing center are well documented. He plays out of position and truthfully, he should be playing power forward. He's not a true center, and I did state that they didn't have a true center of starting quality in said post.

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

My issues with Ben Wallace playing center are well documented. He plays out of position and truthfully, he should be playing power forward. He's not a true center, and I did state that they didn't have a true center of starting quality in said post.

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

IMO, some of this crap about blaming refs didn't start with Sheed. It starts with Larry. He sets the example.

The players typically follow the example of their coach, and he's making it too easy for them to find excuses.

Actually, it's kinda funny how the coach, players, and fans all seem to mesh together in Detroit. Ben throws a towel, Pistons fans throw a beer. Brown blames the officials, the players and fans follow suit. The fans look up to the players, and in turn, the players look up to the coach. So, Brown is causing a degenerative chain reaction when he acts like this. Then he says he's "embarassed" when things get out of control.

It really is sad how LB has turned into such a hypocrite the last few years. It started with Iverson, and has gone drastically downhill in Detroit. He finally got his ring, and took his shot at defending it -- it's time to call it a career.

Skip Bayless:

"Derek Fisher will prove to be a much better NBA head coach than Steve Kerr."

"The Houston Texans will forever regret it if they do not take Johnny Manziel with the No. 1 overall pick. He will haunt them."

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

The more the players and coaches complain the more it cheapens the game and calls into the question the officials.

And that's a bad thing because...?

The officiating in the NBA is wretched, in my opinion. Fans have always been vocal about it, but now you have owners, coaches and players starting to speak out. There's an old adage, "If 10 people tell you you have a tail, sooner or later you have to turn around and take a look."

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

(dang I hate doing this)

Ben Wallace may not be a true center, but then neither are Jeff Foster or Scott Pollard....or Austin Croshere or JO for that matter.

I don't remember LB being that much of a whinner here....I think he learned it from the zen master during the 2000 finals. He did however like to get his players believing it was them against the Great NBA Conspiracy. It is his best motivational tool...us against the world, we ride together. It worked here and he perfected it in Philly.

If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around..

Re: Larry Brown continues to tarnish his legacy...

Ben Wallace may not be a true center, but then neither are Jeff Foster or Scott Pollard....or Austin Croshere or JO for that matter.

I don't remember LB being that much of a whinner here....I think he learned it from the zen master during the 2000 finals. He did however like to get his players believing it was them against the Great NBA Conspiracy. It is his best motivational tool...us against the world, we ride together. It worked here and he perfected it in Philly.